Building the Foundation
So, you're a new Christian. CONGRATULATIONS! Now what do you do? Well, the first thing I would suggest is to approach your new life as though you were building a new home. The first thing you would want to do is establish a firm foundation on which you would erect your masterpiece. The same is true in your faith. Learning what Christ accomplished for you on the cross and applying that to your life (like morter to the brick) will get you off to a great beginning.Let's focus on two passages, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Colossians 2:13. The first says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." The second one says, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins."
What does it mean that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us"? It means that when God looked at Jesus hanging on that cross all He could see was sin. God saw everyone sin committed in the past, every sin committed in the present and every sin in the future. It is no wonder Jesus asked that "this cup" be taken away from Him. He knew what was coming. He knew that as He hung on the cross He would become something He never had known.
For the first time He would experience sin's consequence: separation from His Holy Father. He knew that His Father could not look upon sin and would turned away from Him. When that happened, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) When He died the price of sin was paid in full. The debt was forever cancelled, death had been defeated (1 Cor. 15:55) satan was disarmed (Col 2:15) and all our sins were forgiven. When we accept what Jesus did on our behalf and place our trust in that, God ascribes to us what Jesus accomplished on that cross. All our sins are forgiven and the separation that existed is wiped away.
You see, the only obstacle to God is sin. It is what makes the unbeliever His enemy. It is what keeps him out of God's family. God's holiness cannot tolerate sin. It is an anathema to Him. But not only must it be taken away, it must be done so entirely. Only a holy person is acceptable to Him. Only those who are born after His kind (Spirit) can become His children. This is an all or nothing proposition. That is why Paul stressed in Colossians that all our sins are forgiven at the time we accept Christ's atoning sacrifice.
The Greek word he chose for "all" is "pantos" and means wholly, entirely, by all means, altogether and surely. Please notice that this occured at the time of rebirth. Titus 3:5 puts it so aptly, "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." What is this washing but the cleansing of all sin? Only when every speck of dirt is removed, once and for all, are we acceptable to Him.
Do we sin after we are saved? Of course we do, But, as 1 John 2:1, 2 puts it, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." (NASB) When we sin, Jesus says to the Father, "Do you see that sin? It's covered. My blood covered it back on the cross." Jesus says that about every single sin we commit.
To summarize then, the only obstacle to God is sin. Jesus became sin on that cross and through His death cancelled out sin once and for all. When you accept what He has done on your behalf, all of your sins are forgiven, past and future. No sin you will ever commit is not covered by His death. Since this is true, you can never do anything to jeapordize your salvation. Can you do things to jeapordize the fullness of your life in Christ? Yes, and that is what Paul points out in Romans 6:1.
If you want to experience the full life God wants for you, then you must actively follow Him. But since the obstacle that once separated you from God is no longer there in His eyes, you cannot lose what He has given you. The whole crux of your salvation is rooted in how God sees you. It is His perspective that rules supreme. What matters to God is that His standards have been met through Christ and has been ascribed to you. From God's perspective He sees you now as righteous, no matter what you do because He is looking at you through Jesus Christ.
Rest in this truth: you are saved. Nothing you do will ever change that.
© 1997 Patricia K. Holder